Gary Vaynerchuk bets decades on VeeFriends as comics arm grows

Gary Vaynerchuk says VeeFriends is the business he would keep for decades.

The entrepreneur told Variety in an interview published on 8 October 2026 that if he had to pick one business to ride on in his 60s, 70s and 80s, it would be VeeFriends. He also said the brand is already an eight-figure business in revenue from selling trading cards and coins.

Vaynerchuk is chairman of VaynerX and founder and chief executive of VeeFriends, according to Variety. He speaks to an audience of nearly 5 million subscribers on his YouTube channel, a figure reported at the time of the interview.

VeeFriends launched in 2021. It is built around more than 280 hand-drawn characters and spans comic books, collectibles, content, trading cards and storytelling.

The latest comic underlines that push. Issue #22 is titled “Gentle Giant” and features cover art by Rob Liefeld, the comics artist known for co-creating Deadpool.

For readers new to the property, the comics tell the stories of the individual characters. The company says its characters embody values like empathy, patience and kindness, and describes its universe as created to inspire growth, connection and self-discovery.

That storytelling now lives in several places. VeeFriends Cartoons bring the characters to life on YouTube in animated stories set in the VeeDome, a fictional arena world for the cast. The site lists more than 13 comic books available to read and watch, alongside trading-card lines including Topps Chrome, TCG and Series 1 cards.

The screen expansion started earlier. VaynerWatt, a production partnership formed in 2023 involving Vaynerchuk, launched VeeFriends as its first production to debut, according to Variety. Vaynerchuk also brought VeeCon, the brand’s fan convention, to Los Angeles to promote the VeeFriends kids franchise, Variety reported in August 2024.

What makes this stand out is the timescale. He is talking about characters, not campaigns. A crew makes comics and cartoons. A writers’ room builds backstories. And the bet is that children who meet a Humble Hedgehog or a Gentle Giant now will still want them in thirty years.